Drew MacDonald, event co-ordinator with the Whitney Pier Melting Pot Multicultural Festival, models one of the T-shirts that are for sale this year. The T-shirts, which come in five colours, are the major fundraiser for the festival. They feature original artwork by Whitney Pier artist Keith Baldwin. The shirts are available at the Pier Pharmasave. The festival runs Aug. 2-8.

“We in the Pier fell through the cracks, we’re supposed to be part of Sydney recreation but nothing happens down in the Pier so that’s why Friends of Neville Park Society does a Canada Day party, an antique car show and the children’s fireworks display at Halloween,” he said. “The last number of years, people were saying, ‘How come we don’t have a summertime festival?”

A couple of years ago he approached some of the local groups that hold events during Action Week and discussed the idea of “co-branding” with Action Week and they were all supportive.

The inaugural 2013 festival was a success, and some of those events are back for this year’s edition with some additional features.

Anyone wanting to take part in the culinary delights that will be offered during the festival — including Filipino and Chinese lunches, “Newfie,” Lebanese, Caribbean and Italian dinners — will want to try to arrive early, Nathanson said, as they can expect long lineups and possibly for the food to be sold out.

“It’s food, people love food,” Nathanson said. “I think the Ukrainian lunch that was last year, I think they served 400 and the Caribbean chicken and rice, they served, I think, 440.”

The awareness of the uniquely rich cultural mix in Whitney Pier is raised through the festival, he noted, which is important, Nathanson said.

“It’s our heritage and it’s a simple theme to go with for a festival because in Whitney Pier … there’s over 50 different cultural and ethnic groups represented in the Pier and I believe St. Mary’s Polish Church is the only Polish church east of Montreal, so we have some strengths still in the community,” he said.

Nathanson added he has plans for the festival to branch out even more over the next three years, reaching out to other groups, including hopefully First Nations in 2015.

“It’s our history, why not celebrate it?” he said.

This year there will be festival T-shirts for sale. The T-shirts, which come in five colours and cost $15 each, are the major fundraiser for the festival. They feature original artwork by Whitney Pier artist Keith Baldwin.The shirts are available at the Pier Pharmasave.

The Whitney Pier Melting Pot Multicultural Festival runs Aug. 2-8 and is held in conjunction with Sydney’s Action Week festival.

Drew MacDonald, event co-ordinator with the Whitney Pier Melting Pot Multicultural Festival, models one of the T-shirts that are for sale this year. The T-shirts, which come in five colours, are the major fundraiser for the festival. They feature original artwork by Whitney Pier artist Keith Baldwin. The shirts are available at the Pier Pharmasave. The festival runs Aug. 2-8.